Dell 2200 - Glossary

Glossary 1
Glossary
T
he following list defines or identifies technical terms,
abbreviations, and acronyms used in Dell user
documents.
NOTE: Unless otherwise specified, these definitions may
not apply to operating systems other than
MS-DOS
®
or Microsoft Windows
®
.
A
Abbreviation for ampere(s).
AC
Abbreviation for alternating current.
adapter card
An expansion card that plugs into an expansion-card con-
nector on the computer’s system board. An adapter card
adds some specialized function to the computer by provid-
ing an interface between the expansion bus and a peripheral
device. Examples of adapter cards include network cards,
sound boards, and SCSI adapters.
ADC
Abbreviation for analog-to-digital converter.
ADI
Abbreviation for Autodesk Device Interface.
AI
Abbreviation for artificial intelligence.
ANSI
Acronym for American National Standards Institute.
application program
Software designed to help you perform a specific task, such
as a spreadsheet or word processor. Application programs
are distinct from operating system and utility software.
ASCII
Acronym for American Standard Code for Information In-
terchange. A text file containing only characters from the
ASCII character set (usually created with a text editor, such
as MS-DOS Editor or Notepad in Windows), is called an
ASCII file.
ASIC
Acronym for application-specific integrated circuit.
ASPI
Advanced SCSI programming interface.
autoexec.bat
file
When you boot your computer, MS-DOS runs any com-
mands contained in the text file, autoexec.bat (after running
any commands in the config.sys file). An autoexec.bat file
is not required to boot MS-DOS, but provides a convenient
place to run commands that are essential for setting up a
consistent computing environment—such as loading mouse
or network software.
backup
A copy of a program or data file. As a precaution, you
should back up your computer’s hard-disk drive on a reg-
ular basis. Before making a change to the configuration of
your computer, you should back up important start-up
files, such as autoexec.bat and config.sys for MS-DOS or
win.ini and system.ini for Windows.
base memory
Synonym for conventional memory. See also convention-
al memory.
BASIC
Acronym for Beginner’s All-Purpose Symbolic Instruc-
tion Code, a programming language. MS-DOS includes a
version of BASIC.